Chapter 16 (extract 2) of "Roses for English Gardens" by Jekyll and Mawley (1902), in which Miss Jekyll chooses her favourites among roses suitable for the Italian Riviera. Maréchal Niel is a particular favourite.
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Illustration: Roses on the balcony of an Italian villa.
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- Rosa sinica, commonly called Rose Camellia on this coast (another eastern Rose), is an especial favourite here. Rampant in growth, abundant in its single white flowers, which first open in March, with thorny shoots whose red stems and glossy foliage enhances the purity of the petals, it heralds the arrival of spring, and prefers light and poor soils where many other Roses fail. Its new companion and hybrid, R. s. Anemone, promises to become even more beautiful, and being of a soft rose-du-Barri tint, will soon find its way everywhere, as there is no climbing Rose of its particular and lovely shade of colour.
- Rosa bracteata — The Macartney Rose is rarely seen, as it flowers so late in spring, but as it blossoms well in autumn when R. sinica is barren, it should not be omitted. Its glossy, perfectly evergreen foliage is quite unique, and the long sprays tipped with its scented flowers in November are greatly admired. R. Marie Leonidas (a double form of this Rose) is the freest winter bloomer of this section. Most beautiful in a few gardens, it is not grown as much as it deserves, as it is not a flower for the market, which alone is the criterion of worth to French gardeners. It should not be omitted by the amateur.
- R. Fortunei.—To China again we are indebted for this lovely climber, perhaps in a sense the most notable of those yet mentioned, for it does not and cannot show its real beauty in northern gardens, where it needs shelter. Plant it near an Olive or Cypress, and in three or four years it will entirely cover the tree with a mantle of delicate sprays. Its flowers, lovely in shades of apricot and rose, contrast brilliantly with its apple-green and slender foliage. It is only a spring bloomer, but none the less indispensable on account of its grace and beauty.
- R. Cloth of Gold or Chromatella — A grand Rose, so rarely seen now that it should not be forgotten. Its individual blooms are unsurpassed in size and colour by any yellow Rose, and its December flowers are most beautiful of all when in a rich soil and sheltered position. The fact that its lovely buds bruise so easily, and that it is a special prey to mildew, are the reasons why it is now only to be found in a few gardens where it is extra happy. This is one of the Roses for which this coast was famous until the advent of Maréchal Niel entirely displaced it.
- R. Maréchal Niel.— "Good wine needs no bush" is specially applicable to this grandest of all yellow climbing Roses, for it advertises itself everywhere in every garden, and by autumn pruning produces even lovelier flowers in December than can be seen in May when grown on sunny terraces. For Rose arches and arcades it is indispensable, and contributes largely to the effect of luxuriant beauty. What a pity its flowers do not hold up their heads as R. Chromatella does.
- R. Lamargue, with its lemon-centred and lemon scented heads of flower, is the finest double white climbing Rose yet raised, although it dates from sixty years ago, and is still fresh, young, and beautiful. It blooms so well in late autumn and again in early April, that it is found in every garden, and we who come out from England have a special admiration for its masses of white flower, because it refuses to show its real beauty out of doors in England, and grows too rampantly when under glass.
- Old Roses are, you will see, all my theme, so I feel no compunction in saying that the old Rose, Gloire des Rosomanes, semi-double though it be, is the only perfectly perpetual winter-blooming climbing red Rose yet raised. It is the only old Rose that is never flowerless throughout the severest weather on this coast, and it is particularly brilliant and fragrant both in autumn and in spring when the Banksian Roses need a rich red to contrast with their white and golden-buff tones. It is well known to many folk as the Bordighera Rose, though I do not know it is more abundant there than elsewhere. One of its seedlings, General Jacqueminot, is a household word, known and grown everywhere, and there are two more of its seedlings worth mention — Bardou Job, which has merit, though it is not a winter bloomer, and also the new Noella Nabonnand, which is a decided advance in size and beauty, and is said to be a really good winter-blooming deep red Rose, a desideratum in these parts.
- We all know the brilliant little China Rose Cramoisi Supérieur, but somehow I never saw in English gardens a good specimen of its variety or seedling Cramoisi Grimpant, and this latter is next in importance among climbing red Roses, for it will climb to fully twenty feet high, and cover itself with its rich crimson flowers all the winter through if only there be no frost. For hedges and pillars this is most decorative when it contrasts with the Banksian or Lamarque Roses, and forms a splendidly toned background to all light-coloured Roses.
- Another climbing red Rose that I have never seen to advantage in England is heavily weighted by its senseless name, La France de 1889. Nevertheless, it is a very large, fragrant, and deep rose-red flower of great beauty, which makes prodigious shoots in autumn, and flowers by degrees, beginning at the top in December and continuing to do so lower down the long shoots throughout the season. It is of the very largest size, fragrant, and double, but I think it is capricious in some gardens, as beauties are apt to be.
- A Rose much seen I only mention to reprobate in this climate, that is, Reine Olga de Wurtemberg, which though so good in England is here so fleeting and ugly in colour that I regret to see it, even though it be only for one week in early spring. Not so Marie Lavallee, a delightful blush pink, semi-double climbing Rose, the latest and the earliest of its colour, vigorous and fresh in every way.
- Duchesse de Nemours is a fragrant and bright pink climber, double, and of fine size and form, which is only to be found in a few old gardens, but is far too good a Rose to pass by. In December, and again in May, it will produce a wonderful effect. It seems less easy to propagate from cuttings than other Roses, and is to be found in only one nurseryman's list, but I am glad to say its merit has been recognised, and a stock of it will, I believe, soon again be obtainable. To my fancy it is far preferable to the deeper coloured Reine Marie Henriette, so very common all along the Riviera, and which in December, mingling with Reve d'Or, has a great charm, even if it be not the very best of all.
- R. La Grifferaie, which we seem only to know as a stock for other Roses, is a very brilliant and luxuriant climber in late spring, intensely bright pink in its clusters. The growth and foliage of this Rose are prodigious, and it requires a large space to do itself justice; were it perpetual it would rank as one of the best. Waltham Climber No. 3 shows to great advantage on this coast. Its long strong shoots are clothed with its scarlet-crimson flowers early in spring, and give a fair sprinkling of blooms continuously during winter when grown on a sunny pergola. No mention has been made of Gloire de Dijon and its many seedlings, for they do not show to as great advantage as in more northern gardens.
- Belle Lyonnaise is fairly good, but there is one of more modern date, Duchesse d'Auerstadt, which proves the exception to the rule, and is most excellent in every way. From its growth it is evidently from Reve d'Or on one side, and is quite the finest, freest, and best of all golden-yellow Tea Roses of climbing habit. It will no doubt entirely displace Reve d'Or, being its superior in every way, and this, to those who know that old Rose on this coast, is saying much.
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